During an expedition to the remote islands of the Revillagigedo Archipelago off Mexico’s Pacific coast, a team of scientists have discovered a new species of Halichoeres wrasse that is likely endemic to the remote location.
The researchers described the new species, dubbed Halichoeres sanchezi or the tailspot wrasse, in a paper published Feb. 28 in the journal PeerJ. The species was named in honour of marine scientist Carlos Armando Sánchez Ortíz of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS) who collected the first specimen and who organised the 2022 expedition that led to the fish’s discovery.
Researchers encountered the new wrasse species inhabiting an underwater field of volcanic rubble at a depth of around 70 feet near San Benedicto Island. The eight specimens collected range in size from around an inch long to nearly six inches. The smaller females are mostly white with reddish horizontal stripes along their top half and black patches on their dorsal fin, behind their gills, and just ahead of their tail fin. Frable described the males as “orangy red up top fading to a yellow belly with a dark band at the base of the tail.”
Collected on the last day of the expedition, this new species almost remained undiscovered. Once collected though, DNA analysis revealed genetic divergence from the fish’s two closest relatives – the golden wrasse (Halichoeres melanotis) from Panama and redstriped wrasse (Halichoeres salmofasciatus) from Cocos Island near Costa Rica – further supporting the conclusion that it was a distinct species.
The new species brings the tally of endemic fish species for the isolated archipelago to 14 and further bolsters the case for its continued protection by the Mexican government.
Image: Halichoeres sanchezi n. sp., type specimens: fresh, with fluorescence, and preserved.
Read the paper HERE
